University of Dundee says goodbye to Israeli company, Eden Springs

The University of Dundee is the latest Scottish university to flush Eden Springs out of its campus.

Eden Springs UK is entirely owned, controlled and managed by Mayanot Eden which steals water from the Salukia spring in the occupied Syrian Golan, where it is bottled in the illegal Israeli settlement of Katzrin. Eden Springs UK and Eden Springs Europe themselves do not steal water from the Syrian Golan – they source water locally, and this is precisely the objection that was put forward by certain individuals in Student Council meetings. However, what seems to be overlooked is that Eden Springs UK is, by virtue of being a subsidiary of Mayanot Eden and therefore a beneficiary of the stealing of water, directly linked to the criminal activities committed by its parent company.

Eden Springs is one of many companies which have been targeted for boycott and divestment since Palestinian civil society called for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli companies and the state of Israel in 2005. This is a campaign to economically pressure the state to cease its occupation of all Arab lands, allow Palestinian refugees the right of return and grant Palestinians full equality in Israel – in other words, to dismantle the apartheid system and obey international law.

The campaign to remove Eden Springs from Dundee University was very much a joint effort: students from Action Palestine, Stop the War and Socialist Worker student societies took part, with the help of university staff. This was begun in 2009.

Dundee University can now say that it no longer does business with companies that deny people the fundamental element of life in one part of the world, while profiting from it in another.

We’re also aware of the timing of the latest BDS victory against Eden Springs, coming on the back of similar victories at Glasgow Caledonian University (read more) and the University of Glasgow (read more) and recent motion passed at the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Students (NUS) (read more) and the ongoing campaign against the Scottish Government’s £200,000 grant to Eden Springs (see our post from June 29th) which flies in the face of the progressive vision of Scotland the SNP government claim to have and the strong rhetoric against Israel’s many crimes used by Alex Salmond.

There is undoubtedly a gathering momentum against Eden Springs, particularly in Scotland and we think we have helped contribute to this.

Dundee University Action Palestine

Original Link: http://weareallhanashalabi.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/university-of-dundee-says-goodbye-to-eden-springs-2/